Metabasis Hires Financial Advisor to Evaluate Strategic Alternatives

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 3, 2009 - Metabasis
Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MBRX) announced today that it has hired
Merriman Curhan Ford as its financial advisor to assist the Company
in exploring and evaluating strategic alternatives. At this time,
Metabasis has not made a decision to pursue any specific
transaction or other strategic alternative, and there can be no
assurance that this process will result in any specific transaction
or other strategic alternative. Metabasis does not intend to
comment further on this process unless and until its Board of
Directors has approved a specific transaction or other strategic
alternative.

Metabasis is a biopharmaceutical company that has discovered
novel drugs for metabolic diseases using its proprietary technology
and its knowledge of processes and pathways within the liver that
are useful for liver-selective drug targeting and treatment of
metabolic diseases. The Company has established a broad pipeline of
product candidates and advanced discovery programs targeting large
markets with significant unmet needs. The Company's product
pipeline includes clinical-stage product candidates and advanced
discovery programs for the treatment of metabolic diseases such as
diabetes and hyperlipidemia, as well as product candidates and
advanced discovery programs for the treatment of liver diseases
such as hepatitis and primary liver cancer. All of the Company's
product candidates were developed internally.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Statements in this press release that are not strictly
historical in nature constitute "forward-looking statements." Such
statements include, but are not limited to, references to the
Company's exploration and evaluation of strategic alternatives.
Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause Metabasis' actual
results to be materially different from historical results or from
any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, risks
and uncertainties related to Metabasis' ability to identify and, if
applicable, complete any particular transaction or other strategic
alternative; and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors"
section of Metabasis' Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2009. All forward-looking statements are qualified
in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Metabasis is
providing this information as of this date of this release and does
not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements contained in this release as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

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